Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) declared its new chairman on May 19: Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim. Party delegates still need to "elect" Yildirim to the position May 22, but that is only a formality. Once he becomes party chairman, Yildirim will form a new Cabinet, get President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's approval and begin his job as Turkey's new prime minister early next week.
So who is Binali Yildirim? Born in the conservative eastern Anatolian town of Refahiye in 1955, Yildirim is a maritime engineer by training. He worked many years in various public transportation companies before entering politics with the AKP in 2001. From 2002 to 2014, Yildirim served as the transportation minister and cultivated an image as a successful builder of major projects, including new highways, high-speed trains, tunnels, airports and bridges. The public knew him as the minister wearing a hard hat.